Top 5 plants to share with other gardeners

Sharing plants with friends, neighbours and family helps bring down the cost of gardening and makes a garden more meaningful and personal. Here are five common perennials that can be easily divided, moved or shared.

1. Hostas – Theyre easy to care for and come in a variety of sizes, colours and textures. In the spring, dig up your hosta and divide it in two or three pieces, replant part of it and share the rest with a friend.
2. Tulips – These bulbs will multiply when left in the ground all year. Every two to three years in the fall, dig up your tulips, gently divide the bulb clusters, share and replant immediately.
3. Japanese Anemone – They’re a unique addition to any garden because they flower from late summer through the fall. Their tuberous roots can be teased apart and separated to be replanted in a friend’s garden (who will thank you profusely as anemones are expensive to buy).
4. Sage – Like many perennial herbs, including oregano and thyme, sage can be easily divided and replanted. A sage plant, once dug up, can be pulled into smaller sections with your fingers or with a soil knife. Sage can spread quickly, so many gardeners contain it in a pot.
5. Rhubarb – If left to its own devices, rhubarb will grow into a sizeable patch and start to congest itself; rhubarb produces better if regularly divided and transplanted. Use a shovel to dig straight into the plant and cut out a section. Move it into a pot and offer it to a someone you know – preferably someone who loves rhubarb.

Sharing feels good, and, let’s be honest, there’s a certain satisfaction in walking around the neighbourhood and saying to the person you’re with, “That’s from my garden…so is that…and that!”